Marazzi M G, Bondi E, Giannattasio A, Strozzi M, Savioli C
Infectious Diseases Department, Giannina Gaslini Institute, University of Genoa, Largo Gerolamo Gaslini, 5-16147, Genoa, Italy.
Eur J Pediatr. 2008 Apr;167(4):461-3. doi: 10.1007/s00431-007-0490-3. Epub 2007 Apr 19.
Chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis (CMC) is a syndrome characterised by immune deficiency, often presenting familial dominant inheritance and association with autoimmune endocrinopathies. We report on a patient with CMC who died at 5 years of age of a brain haemorrhage following the rupture of a basilar-artery aneurysm. Candida hyphae in the basilar artery were found at autopsy. A common immunologic abnormality in CMC is the failure of patient's T-lymphocytes to produce cytokines, which are essential for expression of cell-mediated immunity to Candida. Therefore, long-term treatment is mandatory.